“Byeol! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at your lessons?” her step-father asked when she entered the house.

“I... I wasn't feeling well, so I came home to rest.”

“Are you hurt somewhere? Do you want me to give you some medication?”

“No no... I... I will just go to bed now...”

She went upstairs, left her bag on the ground and lay on her bed.

“Hey, Byeol,” Hongbin entered her room after he knocked on the door, “who took you there? There's no bus at this hour and mom is still working...”

“Taekwoon sunbae...” she mumbled.

“Who?”

“Taekwoon sunbae.”

“W-what? Really?” she nodded, “oh... he's really nice, isn't he?”

She didn't answer so he left. Later, when he opened the door to tell her it was time to eat, she was already sleeping, her hands curled tightly and her legs shaking which wasn't surprising: it was how her body reacted to a shock.

*

“Hakyeon sunbae! Hi!”

He closed his locker to see Ahn Yun smiling at him.

“Hi,” he vaguely smiled.

“Did you see Byeol yesterday? Did you talk to her?”

“I saw her yes, but-”

“She said no, didn't she? I know it was going to be like this... if only she could cure that illness of her and sing with you, it would be really great.”

“I saw her but I didn't have time to talk to her. And wait... what illness?” he frowned.

“It's not actually a real illness, or maybe it is, I don't know, but you know... Byeol can barely stand in public, she can't talk to strangers and because of this she's wasting her talent. It's a real shame...”

“But... she hasn't always been like that.”

“No, not at all... how do you know that? Do you know her?”

“I've heard... rumors and everything,” he muttered and looked away.

“Well, a lot of es criticize her, but you mustn't listen to them. Byeol is an amazing person.”

He nodded and found an excuse to leave. On his way to his classroom, he actually saw Kim Byeol, busy looking for some things into her own locker. He stopped in the middle of the corridor and observed her, thinking about Yun's words.

Byeol wasn't ugly at all, on the contrary, Hakyeon found her rather cute and beautiful. She had a thin face and body, round dark brown eyes, a cute button nose and red lips. Her shoulder-length wavy black hair were either tied up in a messy bun or either falling on her back. This day, they were tied up. She wasn't wearing any make-up and it wasn't useful since she was the definition of a natural beauty. While looking at her more precisely, Hakyeon started to wonder why was everyone ignoring this girl or even criticizing her. She was more beautiful than half of the popular girls and was probably cleverer than all of them. Suddenly, he found himself wanting to talk to her and to listen to her singing and playing the piano.

When the bell rang, he looked away only to see Taekwoon glaring at him. The head boy didn't have enough time to call for him that he had already entered their classroom.

*

“Hello boys!” Mrs. Lee greeted Wonshik and Taekwoon when they entered the living room, following Hongbin.

“Hello Mrs. Lee,” Wonshik smiled and bowed his head, Taekwoon doing the same.

Mr. Lee also welcomed them with a big smile when he entered the room with a bottle of wine in his hands.

“Long time no see!” he smiled.

“You can already sit,” Mrs. Lee told them, “Hongbin told us you had a program to respect so we've already prepared everything.”

“You didn't have to,” Wonshik smiled.

“Come on!” she laughed, “sit! Don't be shy!”

Hongbin sat at his usual seat, Wonshik and Taekwoon next to him. Hongbin's father also sat at his seat while his mother went to the kitchen for a while, coming back with a lot of different dishes.

“Byeol isn't here?” Wonshik asked his best friend.

“She went in town.”

“Really? Alone?”

“Obviously she's alone,” Hongbin chuckled, “she doesn't have anyone to go with.”

“She doesn't have anyone since you don't want to go with her,” his father pinched his chubby cheek.

“Yah! I've already had other plans, otherwise I would have gone.”

“Next time we should ask her to come with us,” Wonshik said, “after all, she's your sister, I've known her for years now and well, Taekwoon is going to love her since they are alike.”

“We'll see,” Hongbin shrugged and they started to eat.

Taekwoon nodded.

*

Byeol took the bus until the downtown and went to her favorite bookstores to see the novelties and to buy quite a lot of books since she was growing tired of those she already had at home. When midday arrived, she stopped at a convenience store and bought instant noodles. She sat alone at the only table of the shop and while she was eating, she started one of her new books.

Suddenly, someone sat by her side and when she looked at this person, she was more than surprised to see Cha Hakyeon. He smiled and waved at her.

“How are you?” he asked and smiled, “you're alone?”

She blinked a few times, incapable of moving or answering.

“Do you mind if I eat with you? I saw you were alone, so I can keep you company.”

He stood up, also bought instant noodles, used the microwaves before he sat next to her once again. “Oh, so this is really happening,” she thought, already feeling her heart beating faster and sweat appearing on her forehead, “he really is going to eat with me.”

“Enjoy your meal,” he smiled and started to eat.

She kept staring at him because she couldn't do something else.

“What were you doing here alone?” he asked, trying to make the conversation, “you bought new books? Do you often read?” She absent-mildly nodded, not even really realizing what was happening, “It's a shame I don't have enough time to read,” he sighed, “with my job as the head boy, I'm really busy and I'm always running round and round to take care of a lot of problems. And... I also recently created a group at school, we're looking for singers and musicians right now, and it takes quite a lot of time too, it's really stressful. Do you sing, by chance?” he asked, already knowing the answer but he wanted to ear it coming directly from her. And as expected, she shook her head, “No... Really? Well, I heard a rumor saying you were a great singer, so I was hopping you would join us.” He stopped and looked at her, watching her reaction.

Byeol simply stared at him directly in the eyes, unable to look away. Her heart was racing and she was unable to have coherent thoughts anymore. She was clutching her chopsticks and it was probably going to break at any moment since the wood wasn't solid enough to resist against her strength she only had when she was having a panic attack.

“Hum... Byeol, are you alright?” he frowned, really concerned, “you look really pale right now.”

She had a lump in but when she opened to answer, no sound came out.

“Byeol... are you crying?”

She looked away to sweep away the tears which had started to run on her cheeks. She stood up, gathered her stuff in her bad, bowed her head and ran out to avoid him. She didn't even pay attention to the rain pouring outside and didn't even think about taking the train to go back home. She walked there by feet, the rain clearing her thoughts even though she didn't stop crying. When she entered her house, she was feeling so pitiful, she was cold from her wet figure and she was trembling.

“Byeol!” her step-father stood up and came toward her, “what happened to you? Are you alright?”

She shook her head and pushed him away. She stumbled once, Mr. Lee catching her before she collapsed against the wall and he helped her to go to the living room.

“Byeol,” her mother sighed when she saw her daughter, “what happened to you?”

The young girl looked up to see her mother, her brother but also Wonshik and Taekwoon staring at her. She stepped back, mumbled some incomprehensible words and she ran upstairs to lock herself in her bedroom. She leaned against the door, her whole body shaking and her lungs hurting since she was struggling to breath correctly.

Cha Hakyeon had ruined her beautiful afternoon.

*

“Byeol,” Hongbin called for her, knocking on her bedroom's door, “Byeol, open the door.”

“It's open,” she mumbled,.

“Hey, are you alright?” he asked as he passed his head through the opening.

“Hum.”

“The boys are spending the night here, just for you to know.”

“Hum.”

“We were going to watch a movie downstairs, do you want to watch it with us?” he asked, even though he knew what was going to be the answer.

“No.”

“Are you sure? You should come, seriously.”

“Byeol... It's only a movie!” her mother, who happened to be passing by, spoke over Hongbin's shoulder, “you should really come with them.”

“Leave me alone...”

“Byeol it's not something real-”

“I said leave me alone!” she shouted.

Hongbin looked at his mother and she shrugged, telling him silently to simply let his sister alone. He closed the door and went downstairs where Wonshik and Taekwoon were trying to chose a movie.

“So, is she going to join?” Wonshik asked.

“Nope,” Hongbin sighed and fell on the sofa, lying all over it.

“Really?” he nodded, “maybe I should go and ask her myself, don't you th-”

“Just leave her alone,” Taekwoon cut him, which surprised both of his friends, “you saw her when she came back, she was exhausted. She needs to rest.”

Hongbin frowned and Wonshik raised a brow but yet, they didn't answer.

*

Byeol woke up in the middle of the night. Her eyes were painful from all the crying and was dry. She went out of her bedroom to see Taekwoon who came out of Hongbin's bedroom at the exact same time. They both stopped, stared at each other before she looked down. She was going to go and hide into her bedroom but he prevented her from doing so.

“Byeol,” he said with a low-pitched voice, since he was probably tired, and it made her shiver, “don't mind me.”

She shyly looked at him, bowed her head and went down the stairs to go to the kitchen. She thought she didn't have to worry about someone bothering her, but only a few seconds later, Taekwoon entered the room.

“I'm thirsty,” he explained.

“M-me too,” she managed to say, yet not without stuttering.

She gave him a glass and poured some water in it, ignoring his lingering gaze on her. They drank silently, the tension growing bit by bit, and once she was done, she put her empty glass into the sink.

“Byeol,” Taekwoon spoke, his voice echoing into the whole silent room, “are you alright? What happened to you earlier? Did someone bother you?” She shook her head, “are you sure?”

“Why do y-you want to know anyway?”

He first tilted his head and raised brow, looking intensely at her, but then he smiled.

“Don't mind me,” he told her.

She nodded and disappeared upstairs, leaving a smiling Taekwoon alone with his glass of water.  

Well, I wasn't supposed to post this chapter today, but i wanted to :)

So there it is, the fourth chapter !

Thank you to all of you who subscribed, it means a lot to me and motivates me to write and to post chapters faster.

Leave a comment to tell me what you think about it and upvote if you want to :)

Thx

xx

Mae :)